Fellowship of the Soeurs
by thubar2000
Summary: The Roses of the fantasy world make their debut in the story.
1. Chapter 1

Fellowship of the Soeurs

1. Meeting of the Heroes

The summer sun broke into soft shadows through the slatted brise-soleil. A tower fan circulated the sultry air as clammy dew collected on seven glasses and a pitcher of iced barley tea. Seven young women assembled around a solid mahogany table.

The head of the table was cut off by a three-sided cardboard partition covered with text the size of phone directory print. A tall young woman occupied this seat. While fully Japanese, her round eyes, nose, and generous mouth looked almost Western, and those lips lit her comely face with a mischievous grin. Satou Sei was the most casually dressed in jeans and golf shirt embroidered with the cursive Lillian "L" emblem.

"So that's how it's played," the college student concluded a ten minute exposition.

To Sei's right, Ogarasawa Sachiko rolled a round rose colored die between in her slender fingers. Her face was scrunched like a kitten's upon encountering a ball of yarn for the first time. She set the many-sided polyhedron on the velvet that had been set down to protect the table top.

"I'm not sure about this," Sachiko set the die onto a velveteen cloth that had been lain down to protect the slick wood. "Most games that I've played have a board or cards."

Yumi flipped through a thick rules manual. Where her grande soeur was polished and elegant in designer capris and blouse, Yumi seemed soft and child-like in a simple summer dress. Her pigtail were pulled back in caterpillar green ribbons. "I'm willing to give it a try. Sei-sama said that she put a lot of work into this game."

"Yes, one can only wonder what that mind has dreamed up," Sachiko added cautiously.

"I'm game. I've heard of these role playing games from a cousin and wanted to try one," Yoshino replied from across Yumi.

Yoshino's gentle face was framed by raven hair bound into twin braids by small bow ties. She dressed in a Valentine's Day pink top tucked into white skorts. Her grande soeur Rei occupied the seat next to her. The handsome teen sat across from Sachiko. Her short hair, khakis, and blue short sleeve shirt enhanced the illusion of a pretty boy.

"Renge-chan's a little weird though, isn't she?" Rei referred to their mutual cousin.

The table was completed by a pair of porcelain figurines. Toudo Shimako could have compared to a French fashion doll from the nineteenth century. She was dressed a blue hydrangea print yukata. Her petite soeur Nijou Noriko resembled a traditional Japanese doll down to the mitered hair. Her yukata had a pink hydrangea print.

"I think that I understand the gist of it, Onee-sama," Shimako added in her airy voice.

"It's basically make-believe with rules," Nijou stated.

"That's right," Sei said. "Since Yoshino-chan seems to knows the most of the game, we'll start out with you two.

"The silence in the pine forest hung as palpably as the chill fog-"

* * *

Shadows shrouded the pines, though the sun had climbed halfway up the sky. The vast expanse of green was primordial and had not known the axes of men for centuries. Roots buckled the surface of a cobbled highway that intruded through the woods.

A pair of riders broke through the curtain of pearly mist. The lead rider was a knight clad in a heavy chainmail coat and hood. Her destrier was similarly armored. The device on her surcoat and shield identified the warrior as Sir Reiji of the Yellow Rose. She balanced the butt of her lance in a saddle cup. A wide broadsword was buckled to her left side.

The second rider wore a fine chain shirt. Studded leather braces and greaves protected her limbs. A bow hung from her saddle. She wore a lighter sword on her left hip and a hatchet at the back of her belt. Wherever Sir Reiji went, her squire Yoshi followed. Her green surcoat bore a small badge of the yellow rose.

"Yoshi, this fog is thick. It would be ideal conditions for an ambush," Reiji commented. Her powerful warhorse felt skittish.

"Let them come!" Yoshi called into the obscurement.

"It would be better to avoid a fight," Reiji answered.

"Roll a die for a perception check," Sei ordered.

"Perception check?"

"To see if your character notices something."

"Which one?" Rei asked. She picked up a smoky twenty-sided die.

"Any, they're the same. What's your intelligence?"

Rei scanned through her sheet. "14."

"That'll be a +2," Sei watched the die spin to a 17. "Pass, definite pass."

From the corner of her eye, Reiji noticed man shaped forms lurking in the woods. The knight pulled her mount up short as an arrow whipped a finger width past her nose. She lowered her lance and clapped her heels to the sides of her mount. "Ride!"

Yoshi followed as the dark figures shambled from between the trees. Yoshi's sharp eyes picked out a rope stretched across the path. She whipped out her hatchet and sent it spinning head over haft. The keen edge cleanly severed the tripping line.

"Yoshi, stay back," Reiji ordered.

Yoshi pulled her long sword from its scabbard with a steely hiss. The forest path narrowed and turned; the throwing ax was buried into a tree at the bend. She switched the blade to her off hand and snagged the hachet as she rode by.

Attackers blocked their path, their features were obscured by the mist. Reiji lowered her lance and speared a foe through the chest. The shaft snapped upon impact. The figure was hurled aside like a rag doll.

Yoshi slashed at the ambushers as she passed. A bloodthirsty war cry tore from her throat. The attackers closed in on them.

Reiji tore her heavy blade from the scabbard. The warriors rode down several more enemies before loosing the momentum of the charge. Yoshi milled into the melee with sword and ax whirling.

As the battle was brought to a standstill, the fighter could clearly see the rotted features and torn rags of their enemies. The attackers carried the stink of the grave with them. The walking dead wielded their arms clumsily, but relentlessly.

* * *

"D-dead?" Shimako shuddered.

"Zombies!" Yoshino interjected. "This game isn't half bad."

"Yes, the walking dead," Sei answered in her best Vincent Price impression. "Meanwhile, in Sachiko-san's and Yumi-chan's neck of the woods, they hear-"

* * *

The sounds of battle echoed through the forest.

Sagawara the sorceress was having her foot attended to by her traveling companion Soseki. Soseki finished wrapping the blistered foot in linens and then eased the boot back on.

"Could be bandits, milady," Soseki said.

"Someone could be in danger," Sagawara decided. "We should investigate."

Soseki sprang up. Her hands dipped into her oversized clothes and pulled out a well balanced dagger. The nimble figure darted between the trees. Her boots made little noise of the thick carpet of needles, and there was little underbrush to hamper her.

Sagawara's grimaced at the pace, but followed with her blue cloak flapping about her.She held a slender quarterstaff in her hands.

The pair stopped at the behind a clump of hedges at the fringe of a clearing. The clearing extended about ten yards to the edge of an escarpment. The rumble of horses, clash of weapons, and shouting sounded from below. A robed figure stood near the edge of the clearing; he was noticeably hunched over. His arms rose and wove about as he burbled primordial phrases. A pair of tall robed men flanked him. The mist obscured their other features.

"I sense foul magick at work," Sagawara intoned. Her voice was flat as were her onyx eyes.

A war cry rang out in a high pitched voice. "Hasekura!"

"For Aldis!" a deeper reply belted out.

"That would be the Knight of the Yellow Rose," Sagawara whispered. "We must help them."

"I'm going after the mage."

Soseki darted in before her mistress could say another word. Her short blade pulsed; it had been forged long ago during a old clan feud between wizarding families and had been enchanted to cut through magick.

Soseki darted to a tree closer to the trio, and then slipped behind some brush that was closer to her target. She waited for the distraction. Heartbeats later, an enormous thunderclap exploded at the tip of the escarpment. All three robes were thrown from their feet.

Soseki sprinted in, intending to hold the robed figure as a hostage. Though she ran like the wind, the pair of guards recovered swiftly and rose to their full heights, which measured at least two meters high each. They were skeletons, cracked with ancient wounds and stained by their long slumber on the forest floor. Pinpoints of ghastly light burned toxic green within their eye holes. One of them scooped up its master and placed him upright.

The mage was not human, though it stood man high. It had a pale underbelly that glistened with mucous. The rest of its body was a mottled gray. Three eyes slithered on tentacles above its mouth; they shined with the same ghastly light. The thing's arms were clumsily formed flippers. A twisted shell peaked from its back.

Shock registered on Soseki's face, but she closed the last few steps with the closest guard. She managed to come to an arm milling halt as an rusted ax slashed in front of her. Her foot slammed down on the head of the ax, trapping it in the moist earth. Her double edged blade struck against the exposed elbow joint. The steel shined with an unearthly blue light as the edge cut through the dessicated marrow. A second slice left the skeleton armless.

Soseki sent the shambling corpse off of the cliff with a swift kick. A cry of protest sounded from below. The second skeleton closed. Soseki severed an arm but it managed to grab and jam her knife arm into its ribcage. The corpse's grip was unearthly strong. She pulled out a second knife and stabbed the mundane blade through the monster's head. It was trying to maneuver her to the cliff edge. Soseki tried a trip. The skeleton spun off balance, but used it greater height and leverage to force them to the ground. Soseki hung onto to both blades. Her right hand was still trapped, but she struggled with her free hand to keep the enemy from butting her with its bare skull.

* * *

"Yumi!" Sachiko stood up abruptly. She knocked over her tea when she planted her hands on the table.

"Soseki," Sei corrected.

"Let me clean that up, Onee-san," Yumi rose to look for a towel.

"You don't need to do that," Sachiko answered, but the energetic girl had already met a maid at the doorway.

"You needn't get so excited over a game," Sei said.

"Of course," Sachiko answered and gracefully resumed her seat.

* * *

Sagawara charged into the clearing to get a clear shot. The snail mage spun a net of acid green lightning and threw it at the sorceress. Sagawara slashed through the fabric with a bolt of hot fire. Her enemy brushed away the flames with a sweep of its malformed arms. Pure fire burned against the Snail Mage's putrid were-light.

* * *

"Ready, team three?" Sei asked.

"Yes, Onee-san," Toudo Shimako shifted in her seat. This was the first time she had introduced her petit soeur to her grande soeur. "But do I really have to say it like that?" she gestured to the printed character sheet.

"You can improvise, just put feeling into it. Ready?" Sei repeated.

Nijou Noriko nodded calmly.

* * *

Below the escarpment, the Yellow Rose and her squire fell back in a battle of attrition against the living dead. Above, Sagawara the Red Rose and her retainer struggled against the Snail Mage and his minion.

A wind stirred against the unnatural fog, sweeping away the stench of the dead. Liquid syllables sang above the din of the battle. Scattered sunlight fell through break in the dense canopy. The dead slunk deeper into woods, leaving the wounded and winded warriors on wary guard in the middle of the road.

A second voice rolled louder through the forest. "I, Shima of the White Rose, call upon the Powers of Light to free these souls from their nightmare! I bid thee to return to your dreaming!"

The speckles of sunlight coalesced into thick columns. The dead shied away from the brightness. Their shadows were thrown into sharp relief. The shadows of the dead fluttered and dispersed like incense smoke on the wind.

The skeleton that overbore Soseki froze as the bright light blazed down on it. The light in its eyes faded. Soseki scattered the bones away from her and sprung to her feet. The Snail Mage launched a tear drop shaped bolt at her. With a lightning attack, she reflected the arcane missile with her bespelled blade back to its source. The bolt blasted the mage from its feet. It pitifully writhed on the ground leaving glistening slime on the gross. Sagawara raked the figure with an arc of mage fire from the tip of her staff. The slender woman's hair fluttered in the wind like a war banner.

"No more," the smoldering necromancer croaked. "P-Please spare this wretched life," It flinched from her blazing eyes.

The small retainer returned to her mistress's side. She sheathed her mundane knife underneath the folds of her travel stained clothes, but kept the keen enchanted short sword at ready.

The sound of hoofs signaled the approach of the knight and her squire. They were the worse for wear, but not seriously injured. Out of the woods, a pair of doll-like priestesses emerged. A light-haired one wore a white robe, while the black hair one wore a green robe. And so the heroes gathered.

AN: Sei's campaign is loosely based on the land of Aldis from the Blue Rose: The Role Playing Game of Romantic Fantasy, which is published by Green Ronin Games. It's a Tru20 game, uses only a d20 for rolls.


	2. Chapter 2

"In Aldis, three pillars support the Lillian Seat. They are the the Red, White, and Yellow Roses. The Order of the Red Roses are chosen sorceresses and scholars. The White practice protective magicks and double as judges. The Yellow Roses are the warriors and defend the Sapphire Sovereign with steel and sinew.

"Even as the Roses preserve the Sovereign, the Sovereign preserves Aldis by the Yuletide Rites. When the day draws the shortest breath, the Queen performs the three obeiyances before the Green Watcher, an ancient evergreen that is the last of its kind, the Silver Nightengale, which heralds each new Sovereign with sweet song, and under the watchful eye of the Merciful Mother out in the open sky. Each winter, the Rites renew Aldis and the year brings peace and prosperity.

"That was until the Sapphire Sovereign disappeared upon eve of the Yuletide. Rumor and panic blazed from the capital to the smallest hamlet. The following spring withheld its life-giving rains, and summer spewed forth calamity. Driven from the mountain by the weird clime, great white wolves began stalking the drowned land. Carrion birds feasted; as did the horses that did unnaturally reaved one another and tore at the flesh of their own dead. And like the beasts, the nobles feuded and fought, and discord spread to the streets as each man turned on his brother and each woman on her sister.

"The Iron Faith of Jarzon hammered from the South. They sowed hate-hardened words, but promised grain and protection from the Lich King of Kern. From the north-east, the Lich King's shadowborn servants led bold and bolder incursions with each passing season. Each Yuletide brought only more hunger and despair.

"The three Rose Orders emptied their halls to search for a new Queen. These heroines are Aldis's last and best hope."

_- As recorded by Seito the White during the tenth turning of the Time of Troubles._


	3. The Mage and the Mirror

If rumor were a beast, it would be a hare, ever-multiplying and elusive. If rumor were a fowl, it would be a cuckoo, burgling the brood of fact. But the truth is most like a precious pearl, hidden by the shifting waves and the careful anonymity of its shell. And as the waters toss with the impending tempest, I pray to the Mother for the safety of my sisters who must delve in this storm.

In risking their lives, they seek the Sapphire Sovereign. They seek the Azure Herald. I hope that the Herald will lay unused for many years, but this sacred tome secures the succession to the Lillian Seat and our future.

We must remain composed during this crisis, but we must also take decisive action. My Lords and Ladies, I ask you to deploy your House Guards to the provinces and borders, so that the Yellow Rosas can be fully deployed in the search. Far from panicking the people, the presence of the Aldean elite will bring comfort during this troubled time.

I request that the nobles forgo all unnecessary spellcraft. This includes scrying for enterprise, phantasms for pleasure, and dueling for honor. This will free the Red Rosas from watching over your ranks. I also urge you to send your healers, scribes, and servants among the needy, thus releasing the White Rosas to support their fellows in the field.

A detailed list of these requests is being released for your study. What I ask of you is sacrifice, and before this is over, there will be more sacrifice...

_- The opening of Mizuko the Red's address to the Noble Council a week after the Queen's disappearance. This was to be the Council's last session open to the public._

Fellowship of the Soeurs

3. The Mage and the Mirror

The six heroines stood assembled on top of the grassy escarpment: a knight and her squire, a sorceress and her apprentice, and a priestess and her druid companion. A defeated mage groveled before them. Sunlight glistened from the mage's rubbery skin, and a hunch bulged from the creature's back. Though humanoid, it resembled a snail.

"Throw down your weapons," Yoshi demanded.

The snail arms rummaged through its robes. It dropped a dagger on the ground.

"Spare me," it begged in a gurgling voice.

"You dare to ask for mercy after you set upon us without warning. There's a limit to shamelessness!" the squire raged. "You're going to tell us what we want to know and you're going to do it now. And what are you, anyway?"

Yoshi prodded at the snail mage's shell with the tip of her sword. The thing's head retreated into its robes.

"I do not think that this is the best approach," Sagawara said to Reiji.

"Easy," Reiji warned Yoshi. The knight errant turned to the supplicant. "Answer our questions and we will withhold retribution. You have the word of Sir Reiji of the Yellow Rose on it. If you doubt my identity, you only have to look at the device on my shield."

"Thank you, thank you," the inhuman head emerged from rough folds of cloth. "I gratefully accept your amnesty."

"Oh, Merciful Mother, you're too soft!" the squire swore.

"Yoshi!"

"I'll check on the horses," she said over her shoulder as she stalked away. She wiped off her weapons in the grass before stowing them.

"We'll have words later and tend to your wounds first."

" 'Tis a mere scratch."

"She's so stubborn," the warrior muttered.

Soseki gave her mistress a concerned look, and Sagawara released her retainer to follow the squire.

"I'll give you a hand," Soseki offered to Yoshi.

Yoshi grunted an affirmation. The ranger allowed the apprentice to treat a cut on her arm. Though the warhorses had suffered several bruises, they were not the worse for wear. The pair stood several paces away, still within earshot of the interrogation.

Reiji held her battle-scarred sword with the tip lowered, but still ready for action. "Despite my squire's roughness, she has the right of it. Tell us your name and what grudge that you may hold against us. If there is a wrong, we may be able to redressed it.

"Sit up straight and speak forthrightly to us. Let honesty be your shield. But be warned, our leniency is countervailed with our wrath."

The snail struggled to follow the knight's suggestion. It winced as it put weight on the wounded arm. "My name is Lidellus,"

"Lidellus?" Reiji asked. "We received a letter meet you at a travelers' shrine on the Old Northern Road. And I believe that this shrine lays at the foot of this very hill."

"We also received a summons. Included was a letter of reference from the Ginkgo Prince. So it was a lie. You don't have information on the Azure Herald," Sagawara could not hide the disappointment in her voice.

"No, what I knowledge I have is real enough to fool an augury, though it is mostly conjecture," the creature answered.

"Please tell us what you know of the Herald," Sagawara said.

"I cannot for my master has bound my tongue to silence. This entire wretched body is the fiend's plaything," the snail said bitterly.

Pain struck the snail mage without warning. It writhed in agony, clutching its head. Shima approached, but the mage waved her away. After a short struggle, it snatched the dagger from the ground. Reiji whipped her sword into a defensive stance. Sagawara and the clerics retreated a step as Yoshi and Soseki rushed to their grande soeurs' sides. To their amazement, the snail mage gashed its own arm. Red blood streamed from the wound. The dagger fell from its trembling hand. Reiji moved in quickly to claim the blade.

"Oh my," Shima gasped.

The white priestess extended her hands to offer healing magick again, but it weakly shook its head.

"I know you, Sagawara, at least the sight of you. Your fire has lit my way and seeing you has granted this coward a modicum of courage. While that fiend controls this body, this pain is mine and gives me a respite from that its mastery. Let me tell you my tale while I am myself," the mage said.

The Rosas gathered around to hear the wretched creature speak.

Lidellus attended the prestigious Hanadera School of Magicks. The shy apprentice was an attentive student, but not a standout. He made a few friends, but felt out of place among the men of Hanadera. He admired another student from another school. However, before he could screw up enough courage confess his affection, his beloved had already chosen a woman. The young man then realized that he longed to become one.

He poured over tomes of old lore. Lidellus exhausted the resources at Hanadera and Lillian and began adventuring to chase the leads yielded from his research. There were times when his goal seemed to be in sight, but no arcana was real or permanent enough.

One turning ago, Lidellus returned to the capital after a grueling campaign in the monster infested Caverns of Chaos to the west. He found research notes that dated from centuries before. Upon perusing the journal, he unexpectedly read about a wizard who had used an enchanted mirror become a woman to spy on a rival. The transformation was so complete that no scrying could pierce the disguise. The entry immediately grabbed his attention.

The rival eventually managed to wrest away the artifact, and the remaining pages were devoted to detailing how wizard would retrieve the artifact. Lidellus followed the journal to these same woods. Prepared by the notes, Lidellus was able to enscroll his way past the numerous traps and guardians that barred the way. The ancient laboratory had resisted the passing of an age and more, and the eternium mirror still hung in the innermost sanctum. The mage claimed the tower as his own to excitedly began his research.

Both former owners never recorded how they activated the artifact. Lidellus casted every spell and ritual he knew. He changed the position, lighting, and temperature of the artifact. He desperately recited the entire contents the sorcerers' notebooks in hopes of finding a key word or phrase, but it remained cold and silent. One night, Lidellus lamented about being born as a boy. He was sitting in front of the mirror, and the image in the mirror unexpectedly answered.

The surface of the metal rippled and Lidellus's visage melted and then formed into a rosy-cheeked maiden. However, the woman was still recognizable as himself, and it was all that he could hope for: the fair skin, shining eyes, and pleasing figure.

The seductive image suggested that if the raw material could not be reshaped, then he should find new clay and reshape the clay. The wizard of old had not transformed his body into a woman to fool the rival. The mirror had transplanted his mind into the body of his rival's mistress. For that brief time, the wizard had been a woman in every way.

"You know that using such magick is forbidden," Sagawara said sadly.

"Yes, I knew it, but the image was so perfect that I couldn't resist," the corrupted creature gurgled. "In sorrow, I found the true nature of the mirror. It is a prison for a darkfiend. I know not the demon's true name, but it is old and lorewise, far stronger than me.

"It found a deeply unhappy girl. I befriended her by speaking through her looking glass. After I earned her trust, I convinced her that I could help her by switching bodies. I even convinced myself that I was helping her. It was supposed to be temporary. When I tried to undo the spell, I found that the darkfiend had tainted the transfer.

"The girl became mute. I don't know if her will or her voice was damaged, and the demon warped me into the form that you see before you. This wretched body is it's puppet. Ahh, it reaches for me now. Aaaaagh!" the mage clutched at his head in terrible agony. "I realize now that I was a coward. I know that I can't be forgiven, but please save her."

The creature crawled toward Sagawara. The fastidious sorceress's lips curled as it approached. Soseki moved forward and intercepted the slimy creature. It attached itself to the apprentice and sobbed broken-heartedly against her.

* * *

"Perhaps I should return at a better time," a girl's crisp voice announced.

The silhouette of a young woman occupied the doorway. Spiraled pigtails fell like slithy toves from the sides of her head. The players turned toward the intruder with the blank expressions of interrupted dreamers.

Just moments before, Sei had abruptly spilled from her seat and, while producing alarming noises, surged toward Sachiko. Sachiko sprang away from the assault. Yumi threw her body into attack trajectory. The former Rosa Gigantea glomped onto the new target and burbled into the hem of the small girl's cotton dress.

That was the scene that Touko had walked onto. Sachiko turned and greeted her cousin with her usual aplomb. Yumi's cheeks colored to a frumious shade.

"Oh, please don't mind us," Sei answered from around Yumi's legs.

Sachiko left to greet the elder Matsudairas.

"Is this what you're going to be like come third year?" Noriko whispered to the current Rosa Gigantea.

Shimako could only shake her head in response.

* * *

Lidellus was spent by the telling of his story. Soseki tried to surreptitiously wipe the mucous off her clothes.

"Where is this tower?" Reiji asked.

"Go north until you find a stream. Travel upstream until you come a natural crossing. North of the ford, there will be a crack in the earth, and nestled among the black stone is the tower. My head, my head! It's being torn in two!"

Lidellus doubled over in agony. It clutched its head helplessly.

Shima produced a golden vial. She broke the seal and then worked out the stopper with her arms fully extended. The healer cradled the misshapen head in her lap and wafted the small vial beneath Lidellus's face. The mage surrendered to the powerful narcotic.

"Thank you," Lidellus whispered. "Your mercy is more than I deserve."

As it fell asleep, a transformation occurred. The hunch faded into his back, and the monstrous flesh contracted into thin limbs. Shima held a boyish face topped by curly hair.

As her patient slept, Shima divined the nature of his taint. The spell was an entangled skein. Unraveling the spell from Lidellus's being would endanger him more. She would need help from an elder and the power boost of a temple. The priestess did what she could and healed his burnt arm. The priestess transferred his head to her satchel when she had finished.

"What do you make of his story?" Reiji asked.

Sagawara answered first. "My cousin, the Ginkgo Prince, did mention a Lidellus who attended Hanadera. I don't know much about him, but the general story is consistent.

"Also, before Soseki and I answered Lidellus's summons, I casted auguries that strongly suggested that go North. I think that we should investigate further if we have a chance to learn more about the Azure Herald."

"I, too, believe that we should find the tower," Shima said. "Lidellus is being held thrall by some dark magicks. He deserves to be rescued, even if he has done wrong. There is also the question of the girl, who is also a prisoner."

"Then I think that is three votes for finding this tower. Any objections or opinions?" the knight asked.

"Do you really believe that there is a girl?" Yoshi asked Shima.

"The stories is strongly consistent, and there is another reason to believe in the story's veracity," Shima looked at Sagawara as she spoke.

"There is dark magick at work and it is our duty to challenge it," Sagawara added.

The petite soeurs agreed to the elders' assessment, and the Rosas made ready to leave the battleground. They compromised between decency and expediency. Yoshi and Soseki gathered the bodies, and Nijou used earth magick to fold a crude cairn of talus over the bodies. At the base of the escarpment, they found a desecrated shrine to the Mother. Shima hastened through several apologetic prayers for the dead and the shrine; the living were the first priority.

Meanwhile, Sagarawa the sorceress meditated to refresh her reserve of arcane energy. Sir Reiji secured Lidellus to the saddle of her destrier with a length of rope. The knight felt his bones plainly through his ragged robes. She bound the mage's hands in front of him, which would make spell casting difficult. Once the preparations were finished, the team headed north.

Nijou, who was preternaturally sensitive to the forest, led the way. Shima and the Red Rosas followed. Reiji led the mount by the bridle with Lidellus firmly strapped in. In spite of the powerful drug, he tossed fitfully in the saddle. Yoshi rode a bit behind him with one hand rested on the pommel of her sword. They made good time before stopping for nightfall.

Lidellus awoke briefly to drowsily sip water. Reiji let him down from the horse, but kept his hands bound. Nijou allowed Yoshi to build a small fire in a pit under the close supervision. Reiji and Sagawara took an uneventful first watch. The first watch awoke their petite soeurs before gratefully settling into their cloaks before the fire.

* * *

As her character rested, Yoshino scanned through the stapled printouts that Sei had given her.

"What are you looking at?" Yumi craned over the table to look.

"We're up next. You can't see this, though. This is what my character knows. You'll probably want to look at your character sheet."

"Where is it?" Yumi paged through her packet.

"In the back, under history and background."

"Yumi, please sit properly in your chair," Sachiko suggested.

"Yes, Onee-sama," Yumi unfolded her knee and slid back into her seat.

Sei interrupted them. "The second watch begins. A half moon has crested the trees and bathes the clearing in a ghostly light. Your breath mists in the cold."

* * *

"Don't hesitate to wake me up if something happens," Sagawara advised sleepily.

"Yes, ma'am," her apprentice answered. "Sleep well, Onee-sama."

"Yoshi, if your wound is bothering you, I can take your watch," Sir Reiji offered.

"I'm fine, Soseki bandaged it earlier," Yoshi rotated her arm to demonstrate. "I'm supposed to be warrior of the Yellow Rose. I can handle myself."

The ranger settled on a fallen log opposite from Soseki. She serviced her blade with a whetstone. Soseki pulled her cloak tighter around herself to ward off the cold.

"It's colder here than Jarzon, isn't it," Yoshi said.

"Mm," Soseki agreed. "But I don't mind the road so as long as I can be close to my Onee-sama."

"How sweet," Yoshi commented dryly. She held the razor edge to her eye.

"Sorry, I may have said too much."

"No, I'm just a little jealous of 'newlyweds'. Just a little," Yoshi emphasized. She held two of her fingers pinched together. "You came long way since I first saw you cutting Lady Sagawara's purse. That was what, eight turnings past?"

The apprentice was glad that the night hid her blush. "I didn't know any better at the time, but I've learned a lot since Sagawara-sama took me in."

Soseki let out a small yelp as an icy prickle ran down her spine. She sprang up with her enchanted dagger in her. Soseki tried to shake Sagawara awake. The sleepy sorceress pushed her away and turned over in her cloak.

Yoshi noticed the horses struggling against their restraints. She roused Reiji. The knight tapped the priestess's face, while the range rattled the druid by the green priestess's shoulders.

In the commotion, Lidellus had awoken into his loathsome form. His shining black eyes jerked to and fro. He strained mightily, twisting and thrashing, against the dark enchantment that threatened to reclaim his will.

"The fiend has found us. Defend yourselves!" Lidellus cried hoarsely.

Reiji had managed to buckle on her shield and draw her broadsword. The forest came alive. A dozen and more lantern eyes glared at them from every direction. A fetid stench of rotten meat filled the air as they bobbed closer. A primal ululation echoed through the night.

The first wolf stalked into the clearing. Though gaunt, the beast moved gracefully with power. Its eyes burned with a primal hunger. Its packmates slunk from the darkness, joining their leader in a slow circle around their prey. Thick ropes of saliva dripped from the hunters' maws.

The knight pulled the tied-up mage behind the fallen log , and the awakened adventurers assumed defensive ring around the fire. The mounts strained madly at their restraints; they had been tied to a tree near the edge of the clearing.

Yoshi saw that the bound horses would be easy prey. She whipped out her ax and hurled it at the knot. The steel sliced through the rope and into the trunk with a meaty thunk, and the trained warhorses dashed from the clearing. The wolves unexpectedly ignored the horses and continued to bare their long canines at the humans. The ranger snatched a burning brand from the fire to arm her offhand.

Nijou focused on the pack for a moment. She shuddered in revulsion. "This pack is being controlled by a soul filled with malice and hunger."

Shima unfolded a pair of iron-spoke fans. The priestess flicked and swirled the fans to the rhythm of her chant. As the air began to burn with mana, the alpha abruptly broke from the circling and bounded at Shima's throat with its sickled fangs bared.

_To be continued._


	4. The Storm

Fellowship of the Soeurs

4. The Storm

In the frozen clearing, the lead wolf bounded at the White Priestess. Its eyes glowed from the camp fire as hot breath misted from its maw. The woman's delicate face furrowed in concentration as she wove her spell.

Her companion Nijou rushed in, catching the attacker around the throat with the crook of her arm. She spun, then slung the slavering beast to the frozen earth. The druid finished the attack by clasping her gnarled cesti together. Shards of earth tore from the ground, trapping the fallen enemy in a crushing embrace.

Behind the clerics, Reiji fended off the starving pack with two-handed swipes from her broadsword. When the enemy tried to flank the knight, Yoshi kept them at bay with stinging sword slashes and jabs from her burning brand.

The team's swift counter allowed Shima of the White to complete her spell. The priestess parted her fans as if they were the wings of a swan taking flight. An orb of light bloomed over the clearing, burning the possessed pack with its corona. The wolves recoiled in agony.

One fiercer beast shook off the defensive magick. It gathered itself and pounced at Soseki, who was still stooped over her drowsing mistress. She raised her dagger, though the blade seemed pitifully small compared to the frenzy of slashing teeth. Grimly determined, she flipped the blade into the air, caught it by the tip, and sent the steel spinning through the air. Her aim was true. The keen edge sank into the beast's chest.

The stricken beast tumbled to the ground in a heap. Its maw pried open to vomit a plume of blood. To Soseki's shock, the beast gurgled out a curse with the voice of a dying woman.

* * *

A knock at the door sent Yumi leaping from her seat. She bumped the table, which knocked over her half-drunken tea. The other girls snatched their sheets from the table. 

"Really, Yumi," Sachiko sighed.

"S-sorry," Yumi said and began wiping up the mess.

Sachiko's graceful hand joined hers with another napkin. Yumi smiled a sheepish thanks. Sachiko returned a gentle one.

"Oh my, did I startle you?" Mrs. Ogasawara asked from the doorway.

"No, not at all. I'm just clumsy," Yumi apologized with a quick bend at her waist.

Mrs. Ogasawara carried a wooden tray. A delicious, nutty scent filled the room. It was impossible to name the seed, even when the contents of the porcelain plate came into view. Each nut would have fit comfortably in a child's palm. They were shaped like corn kernels and colored the hue of honey. Mrs. Ogasawara thanked Sei for the gift and chatted briefly with the girls before leaving.

"What are we going to do with this?" Yoshino held up Yumi's soaked character sheet.

"Ah, I spent a while on that sheet," Sei said. "Just spread it out to dry."

"I'm so sorry," Yumi said.

"What will I have to show for my spent youth?" Sei sighed with her wrist balanced on her brow. "I guess that you'll have to pay the penalty."

"Penalty?" the tinny tune of Scooping Loaches rang in the small girl's ears. Her ears warmed to a carnation pink.

"You get to be the first to try this," Sei offered Yumi a kernel.

Yumi took the kernel between her small hands. Sei took a knife from the tray and pierced the skin, releasing a puff of white steam.

_That isn't so bad,_ Yumi thought. _Unless__ these are some kind of ga__g, but she wouldn't put Sachiko'__s mother through all of that__ trouble. Would she?_

The younger girl tried to gain a hint of the flavor from Sei's plagiarized Cheshire grin, but none was forthcoming, so she took a cautious nibble.

The many flavors surprised Yumi. There was the taste of peanuts; the fresh roasted ones that her father had bought for her and Yuki during a Giants game. Mixed in were the yams baked in her grandmother's backyard, and the crisp corn that her uncle had sent from Hokkaido. Underneath these memories were a subtle whiff of pine and a hint of bitterness.

"Yumi, please don't stand while you're eating," Sachiko said.

Yumi obediently sat as Sei distributed the rest of the kernels. Shimako sighed in delight at her first taste. The current White Rose liked gingko nuts, so Yumi expected her to enjoy the kernel. Yoshino took hearty bites out of hers.

Noriko's expression remained neutral, while Rei peered at hers suspiciously. Sachiko chewed dutifully.

"What are these?" Yumi asked after she'd savored the last bite.

"Was it bad?" Sei answered.

"No, it was delicious."

"Then I'll tell you. They are seeds from Green Watcher, the eternal evergreen that towers over the Lillian throne in Aldis."

"No, seriously," Yumi complained. She wanted her parents and Yuki to try it.

"I am being serious. Excuse me, but I've gotta take a break," with that, the unreliable sempai escaped from the room.

"Yumi, were you serious?" Sachiko asked. "I mean about the nut."

"Yes, I really liked it."

"Because I couldn't taste anything from mine. Please try this."

Yumi took a morsel from her onee-sama. The balance of flavors was different, but it still tasted good. Shimako exchanged with Noriko.

"How odd, both of them taste bad. There are too clashing flavors," Noriko said.

"And they remind me of a scrumptious lotus cake," Shimako observed. "Actually, we look like the Vinegar Tasters."

"Though you should be frowning, since your father is a Buddhist monk," Rei quipped.

"Vinegar Tasters, that's great! I wish that I'd gotten a snapshot," Sei said from the doorway.

"This seems like a good time to take an extended break. Excuse me, but I need to stretch my legs," Rei rose. "Yoshino?"

The willowy girl quickly sprung up to join her soeur.

"I need to visit the lavatory," Sachiko said. "What about you Yumi?"

"Not right now."

Yoshino gave her a light elbow and jerked her chin in Shimako's direction. The porcelain beauty still seemed to be considering the Yamayurikai edition of the ancient painting.

"Yes, now that you mention it, I really DO have to go," Yumi abruptly rose. She managed to rattle the table again, but it remained dry this time.

* * *

Without thinking, Yumi wandered back to the room after she'd finished her business. The interior and exterior doors were both thrown open, which gave a framed view of the central garden. Shimako and Noriko watched the darkening clouds pass overhead. 

They had parted only a short time before. Yumi knew that the relationship between Shimako and Sei was different from her sisterhood with Sachiko, but the White Roses had been separated for an entire year. If the small girl had been separated from her onee-sama for a year, she was certain that she would have been flooded with words. Either that or her emotions would have drowned her with silence and tears. In any case, the reunion would have taken longer than a commercial break.

Could their feelings have cooled in the intervening months? A chill ran down Yumi's spine at the thought.

"Is something wrong Yumi-san?" Shimako asked.

"I was going to ask you the same."

"I am fine, but Onee-sama seemed distracted."

"Really? She didn't seem too out of the ordinary to me," Yumi confessed.

"Perhaps it was my imagination," Shimako concluded politely.

"You would know better than I would."

"Maybe it has something to do with Yumi-sama," Noriko said. "Sei-sama glanced at her often, especially when we were eating."

"I noticed that as well," Shimako agreed.

Yumi spread her hands in defense. She didn't really think that Shimako had a jealous bone in her body, but their suggestion still made her uncomfortable. "You think so?"

Yumi was spared more awkward attention by a loud peal of thunder. She helped Noriko up from the porch. The White Rose shifted to a kneel and closed a door as if she were in a period samurai drama.

Fat droplets bombarded the ground, filling the air with a coldly damp scent. The Yellow Roses drew into view from a stone path that followed the house. Yumi heaved the remaining door close after them. Sachiko returned with hot tea, which left Sei unaccounted for.

They waited about a quarter of an hour before Yumi began fidgeting. An uneasiness had taken hold of her, which she couldn't shake.

"Yumi, where are you going?" Sachiko asked.

"I'm going to look for Sei-sama. I'm worried about her."

"I'm sure that she'll turn up soon," Rei said. "Right, Shimako?"

"Probably, but she seemed rather distracted before," Shimako answered.

Sachiko and Rei exchanged looks. Yumi was normally frazzled, but Shimako worrying was another matter. First, they tried Sei's cellphone. An answering service directed them directly to voice mail.

The split into three search groups. The White Roses stayed put. Shimako had visited the Ogasawara estate only once before, and it was Noriko's first time. They were also the best suited to waiting.

Rei and Yoshino looked through the closer rooms, while the Red Roses expanded the search out further. The thorough sweep took them at least a half of an hour. Sachiko asked her mother about the errant sempai, but Mrs. Ogasawara had not seen Sei since delivering the kernels.

Once they reassembled, Yumi's unease rose with the tempo of the thunder.

"Onee-sama, can I borrow an umbrella?"

"You should wait a little while, the storm has really picked up," Sachiko protested.

"I'll only be gone for a bit."

"I'll go with her. Yoshino, please stay put. At least until the rain lets up," Rei said as her petite soeur bit back a retort.

"I really can't explain it you, Onee-sama, but I felt like Sei-sama might need our help," Yumi said earnestly.

"Actually, I felt something strange too, as if there were something about this storm," Shimako added.

Sachiko found a pair of umbrellas, and bade Yumi to be careful around the pond and stay away from the large zekova trees.

"Don't worry, I'll be with her," Rei assured her.

"I should go with you," Sachiko said.

"There's no point in your getting wet, too. We'll only be gone for a bit."

"Come back safely," Sachiko said to Yumi. She opened the door to the sizzling rain.

"I will," her soeur answered.

"We'll be back soon," Rei bade her friends and plunged in after Yumi.

After a few steps, their forms were blurred into grey anonymity by the curtains of rain. Several more steps later, the stormed swallowed what remained, so that not even the footfalls remained.


	5. Dancers at the World's Edge

Fellowship of the Soeurs

5. Dancers at the World's Edge

The elements hurled themselves at Yumi's umbrella. The slender girl centered her weight behind the umbrella shaft and pushed back. Progress was slow. She hazarded a peek around her umbrella and received a face full of rain for her troubles. Visibility was poor, but she could make out a line of trees that lay about half of a sports field ahead.

"We should head for the trees," Yumi shouted to Rei, who struggled several steps ahead of her.

"What was that?" Rei hollered back.

"I said-"

Yumi shifted her umbrella to get a better shout. A sudden gust torqued the shaft from her lunging grasp. Her summer sandals slipped on the slick stone, and she spilled to the unforgiving ground. The free umbrella tumbled like a wheel down the path. The wind gathered beneath the canopy and spun it in a madcap dance across the lawn, before lifting it up, away, and out of sight.

A heavy feeling lay in the pit of her stomach. That was her Onee-sama's, and she had lost it. Yumi also remembered the last time that she had lost an umbrella. This was not an auspicious opening to their search.

A second umbrella shielded her. "Are you OK, Yumi-chan?" Rei shouted.

"I'm fine, but I can't believe that I lost Onee-sama's umbrella," Yumi picked herself gingerly off of the ground.

"Come on, we've got to get out of this wind. Can you go on?"

Yumi nodded. She took Rei's hand to rise. The tall martial artist wrapped her arm around Yumi's waist. Both girls took hold of the remaining the umbrella. With their weights combined, they fought their way to a clump of swaying magnolias. The girls rested briefly in the dubious shelter of the trees' lee. However, hey were careful to stay several paces away from the trunks, since jagged lightning still cut the sky.

"Are you OK?" Rei asked.

"Yes, thanks. How about you?" she answered.

"I'm fine, but this storm doesn't look like it's going to let up," Rei mused as she swept a handful of rain from her hair. She began wiping herself with her kerchief. "Knowing Sei-sama, she'll probably be in Sachiko's house, warm and dry."

Yumi could imagine their sempai greeting them at the door with a Cheshire grin firmly in place. She pulled her kerchief out as well, but it was as thoroughly soaked as the rest of her. The girl grimly wrung it out. The thought of drying off in the house was appealing, but the unease still plagued her.

"I'll manage. Just let me catch my breath," Yumi answered.

"Well, if I remember correctly, there should be more trees and hills up ahead. The going should be easier from here on out," Rei added.

"Thank you for coming with me, Rei-sama."

"You don't need to thank me, Sei-sama is my friend, too. But where do you think she might be?"

Yumi wiped herself as she thought about Sei's whereabouts. While Sei presented a front that was bold as brass, she preferred to stay away from crowds. Sei would probably head for someplace that promised peace and a sense of solitude.

The girl imagined the grounds, not uniformly gray as they were now, but during a sun-streaked spring morning when she walked side by side with Sachiko. Her onee-sama's clear voice returned to Yumi. The memories of tree lined paths and petal swept boulevards gave way to green houses, fragrant groves, promontories, and then a large pond. The pond had an island at the center, which seemed promising.

"We should check at the big pond," Yumi decided. "If I remember correctly, it's to the south-west."

"I think that you're right," Rei agreed.

Rei pulled out her compass, which was a memento from her hike with Yoshino. The paths wound to create the illusion of greater space, though the estate seemed plenty large to Yumi.

The wind lashed them again as they left the windbreak, but the terrain kept the worse of the wind away, as Rei had predicted. They followed the compass and cut around several submerged paths. Others had become muddy rivulets from the runoff. Fallen tree limbs littered their way.

As they forded another impromptu stream, the entire sky burned blue. Thunder exploded from every direction in a deafening boom. Yumi winced. She thought her ears were ringing, but realized that it was her cell phone. The girls stopped to answer it.

"Yumi?" Sachiko asked. Her voice was distorted with a static and reverb. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, we're fine, Onee-sama."

"You should come back, that last lightning strike might have sparked a fire."

"In a little bit, we're going to check the pond."

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't hear you," Sachiko crackled.

"The pond, we're going to check the pond," Yumi repeated, louder.

"The pond?" Sachiko asked.

"Yes. We should get going, we'll be back soon," Yumi said.

"OK, I'll be waiting for you. Please come back safely," Sachiko replied.

"We'll be back before you know it, bye," Yumi answered.

"All set?" Rei asked.

Yumi nodded, and they set off again. The girls had made good time by following the compass rather than the circuitous paths, but they kept to the paths after that last bolt of lightning. The pond came into view several minutes later.

It was roughly circular, as Yumi recalled, but had swollen several yards to the tree line. A single, narrow bridge emerged from the shallow water and spanned to a small spot of an island. A figure in white lay in the middle of the island.

"There she is!" Yumi announced.

"Where?" Rei demanded.

"In the middle of the island."

"Wait!"

Heedless, Yumi plunged into the chill water, which quickly reached her calves and then knees. Mud sucked at the soles of her sandals. Something slid across her ankle in the cold murk, but quickly retreated. Yumi dismissed it as a branch or a fish.

Once she reached the bridge, she grabbed the bridge railing and half-pulled herself from the water.

"Sei!" Yumi called as she crossed.

There was no answer. There was no doubt about it, it was Sei. Her sempai was sprawled out on a small circle of blue-gray stone. Yumi feared the worst as she approached Sei, but forced down her feelings of dread. She knelt down and felt Sei's breath. She let out a sigh of relief. There didn't seem to be any wounds.

Sei looked worn and tired. Yumi touched her sempai's pale face. Sei stirred. Her eyes blinked opened. Her gaze was still unfocused.

"Yumi?" Sei croaked.

"Sei, are you hurt?" Yumi asked.

"Yumi, get away. Get away from here," Sei tried to push the small girl from her.

"This is no time to joke around. I'm going to call for some help," Yumi said.

Yumi waved for Rei to cross. She wondered why Rei hadn't seen Sei, but reasoned that visibility was still bad in the continuing drizzle. She pulled out her cell phone again, but the signal was dead.

"Sei, I'm going to try to get a signal, everything is going to be fine," Yumi mustered all of her confidence into her voice. Sei began to rise, but Yumi stopped her. "Try to stay still, you might be hurt."

Sei's face suddenly transformed to a look of shock. "Rei! Stay back, something is wrong with the water."

In a ring around the island, the water rose up in plumes as if rising to snatch the rain from the air. The plumes leaned into diving arcs that plunge and rose from the water like leaping fish. The martial artist stopped a step away from the strange arcs. Just as she took another step, a jet of water slashed out, shattering one of the bridge rails. She leapt back with her kendo-trained reflexes, avoiding the blow.

Several more blades of water slashed against both sides of the bridge. The remaining railing was smashed, while deep scars were left in the thick timber.

"Get back!" Yumi called with Sei.

Yumi's breath was tight in her chest. Sei pushed herself up into a reclining position against Yumi's shoulder.

"Wh-what's going on, Sei-sama?" Yumi gasped.

"I'm not sure," Sei said.

"Can you stand?"

"Yeah." Sei said.

Yumi helped Sei to her feet. The tall sempai swayed momentarily, but managed to gain her footing.

"We can't stay here," Yumi said.

"Go," Sei said. "Get out of here."

"No!" Yumi's voice cracked from the vehemence of her answer. "We both go or we stay.

"Tell me when you think that you can run. Lean against me if you have to."

"I'll be OK," Sei claimed as she tested her balance. "On a count of three."

On three, they ran, but when they neared the halfway mark, the arcs battered them with crushing tides. Yumi was nearly swept from the bridge. Sei braced her and pulled her back from the bruising blows. The arcs lowered back to foot-high leaps when they set foot back on the island. On the far side, Rei was beaten back as well.

As Yumi and Sei coughed up gritty water, the arcs connected. They wove mid-leap with their neighbors, into larger arcs. They consolidated into five waves leaping, twisting, and cavorting with graceful trajectories. Despite their grace, they crashed into the bridge with savage power at each pass. Rei hurled a cudgel at the watery forms, but the branch only passed through the waves.

After the next full pass of combined waves, the timber arch snapped with a sharp crack. The bridge hurtled sideways into the choppy waters. The moorings creaked in protest, but broke free. Upon impact, the cross planks tore from the, leaving the bridge to disintegrate into flotsam.

"Hold onto me, Yumi, and don't let go," Sei ordered.

Yumi had unconsciously latched onto Sei and tightened her grip. With trembling hands, Yumi pulled out her cross and kissed it. Sei protectively put her arms around Yumi.

"Please watch over us, Maria-sama," Yumi breathed.

In the next pass, the waves stood taller and limbs separated from their bodies; they resembled people. The rough proportions refined after each step, until the dancers were undeniably women.

The undine threw out their long limbs and launched their bodies into the air with abandon. Sei counted their simple rhythm under her breath 1-2-3-4. Yumi could feel the beat thrum in the air like a vibration. It became a single, insistent word: come, come, come. The dancers tightened their ring as the tempo rose to a frenzy, with the same insistence mantra. Come, come, come. They approached close enough for Yumi to see that their faces were contorted with intense pain.

"We're going to try to break through again," Sei said between her teeth. "It's all we can do."

"Mm," Yumi affirmed.

"On my signal, we break for it. Swim for Rei. But first, take your dress off," Sei broke their embrace.

Yumi hesitated for a brief moment before shucking off her waterlogged dress and kicking off her sandals. Gooseflesh rose on her bare arms and legs. She felt naked and exposed in her white cotton shift.

Sei had also disrobed down to her underclothes. They stood side by side. Sei held onto to Yumi's hand, their fingers intertwined.

"Don't let go until we're at the water," Sei said. "Take a deep breath. Good."

Yumi complied with Sei's command and gulped in a deep breath. It helped to calm her, though her heart pounded fiercely in her narrow chest. The ghostly dancers drew closer and closer. When the spirits reached landfall, Sei's count slowed. When they reached nearly in arm's reach, their tempo has noticeably slowed, and then Sei gave the signal.

"Go!"

Yumi's feet nearly slid on the cold stone as they took off. The first of the dancers reached for Yumi. She broke through the spirit's grip, though the force rattled her teeth. The dancers continued in their circular rhythm and expanded out to capture them. The translucent forms were hard to keep track of. Yumi slammed into the next one, shoulder first, and managed to get past.

They reached the water's edge. Yumi was primed to jump into the water, but Sei arrested her dive.

"Sei, what's wrong?" Yumi asked.

"Look out!"

One of the undines rose directly in front of them. It arms wrapped around Yumi. The icy embrace towed her halfway into the water. The girl desperately clung to Sei.

"Hang onto to me," Sei gasped between her teeth as she tried to drag Yumi up with both of her hands.

Yumi felt other cold arms latch onto her. Sei strained to keep her body above water.

Unexpectedly, one of the sprits rose from the water and faced Sei. Her expression was different. Instead of pain, sorrow showed clearly in its large, liquid eyes. The spirit gently touched Sei's face.

"Shiori," Sei gasped.

In that moment of shock, Sei's concentration faltered. It was enough for an opening for the undines. Watery arms tore Yumi from Sei's grasp. Sei clawed into the water. Yumi vaguely heard her name being called as she fought for the surface. Sei's hand caught her rosary, but the chain could not hold and snapped from Yumi's neck.

The slight girl's lungs ache as she fought to keep her breath. Her arms and legs grew leaden as she sank. She saw Rei in the water as well, but she was sinking too quickly. The descent was long, far longer than she thought possible. Her breath gave out choking cough, followed by a sharp pain in her air passage. Darkness crept up on her as she continued to descend.


	6. The Search for the Searchers

**Fellowship of the Soeurs**

6. The Search for the Searchers

"I am sorry, but the customer, who you have called, cannot be reached at this time. After the tone, please leave a message. Beeeep," the canned voice droned.

"Yumi, this is Sachiko, please call me back at your earliest convenience," though Sachiko's voice sounded sunny, her face darkened like the lingering clouds outside.

She snapped the phone close, breaking the stillness that had settled over the room. Four pairs of eyes turned toward her. Shimako suspended a bishop over a shoji board across from Noriko, while Yoshino looked up from the rulebook that she had been perusing, and Sachiko's mother stopped her needlework.

"Sachiko, how many messages have you left on Yumi-chan's phone?" Mrs. Ogasawara asked.

"Only five," Sachiko answered evenly.

"And you've sent at least as many text messages. You've probably been cluttering her mail box," her mother admonished.

"You're right, Mother. Please excuse me for a moment. If you could please take care of our guests for a moment," Sachiko left the room with a brief incline of her head.

Though there was few things that could harm her friends on the Ogasawara estate, the combination of Yumi and wet walkways summoned images of the small girl sprawled out like a CSI subject awaiting a chalk outline. The thought of Yumi being hurt, especially in her domain, twisted sharply through Sachiko. She knew that her thoughts were overwrought, but they often were when it came to her petite soeur.

She entered an empty study. Amidst the musty books, she checked the phone. The unchanging screen lit her face goblin blue.

"Yumi! Why don't you answer me! Are you trying to spite me!" Sachiko spiked the phone into the plush carpet.

"Perhaps I should come back at another time," Yoshino suggested behind her. "I knocked, but I guess that you didn't hear me."

"Is something wrong?" Sachiko asked with barely concealed exasperation.

"I know that you're worried about Yumi, and I'm starting to wonder about what could be holding them up as well," Yoshino admitted. "I think that we should look for them."

"What about Shimako and Noriko-chan?"

"They're getting changed. They brought shorts and t-shirts in their overnight bags."

"Thank you," Sachiko concluded with relief.

As a hostess, she would have felt awkward asking her guests to track through the wet and muddy grounds based on a vague feeling. Abandoning them would have been worse, but Yoshino had relieved her of both burdens.

"No need to thank me," Yoshino answered. "We were getting tired of sitting around. Shall we get going?"

* * *

Sachiko looped her cell phone strap around her wrist and clutched the phone in her left hand. At her mother's insistence, she also carried a small folding umbrella against the remaining fat clouds overhead. Noriko carried a second umbrella and a bag of towels, while Shimako carried a first aid kit in a pouch. By an unspoken agreement, Yoshino travelled empty handed.

Sachiko looked back to see how the frail girl was holding up. Yoshino managed to keep up, though her brow and cheeks had flushed apple red. Sachiko began to ask if they 

should stop, but was waved to silence by Yoshino. Even so, Sachiko slackened her pace by half of a step despite her own impatience.

Perhaps Yumi's unease was contagious. The trees seemed to be full of furtive shadows.

"It's very quiet," Shimako observed.

"Don't birds usually come out after a storm," Noriko added.

They were right. The woods were unnaturally quiet and still. A rustling in a bush caught their attention. Sachiko leaned over the brush just as a pair of black wings sprouted from the bush. The young woman ducked down with a yelp.

An enormous crow erupted from the bush in a rain of black feathers. Its raucous cry echoed forlornly through the trees. Its mates took wing to respond to its call, cracking the quiet with their caws. Left in the brush were the savaged remains of a hare. Rust red matted the white fur. An eyeless face stared up at the young woman. She gagged at the sight.

"Are you OK?" Shimako asked as she picked a tuft of black down from Sachiko's hair.

"Yes, though that was a bit of a shock. Thanks for asking," Sachiko answered with a steadiness that she did not feel.

Sachiko drew in a long breath to calm herself and continued to press forward. Several minutes later, the remaining members of the Yamayurikai emerged from the trees from above the pond, where they saw the destruction. Where a sturdy bridge once spanned, only kindling remained in the water. Sei sprawled the edge of the muddy water, but there was no sign of Yumi or Rei.

Sachiko led the way down the rain slick slope. Sachiko and Shimako reached Sei at the same time. Sachiko knelt in the mud to help stand. Sei's face contorted in pain. Her bare limbs were mottled hand-sized bruises.

"Were does it hurt worst, Onee-sama?" Shimako asked as her fingers fumbled for the first aid kit.

Sei shook her head at Shimako's question. "Yumi," she wheezed to Sachiko.

"What about Yumi?" Sachiko demanded.

"They took her."

"Who did?"

"I don't know, but they came from the pond," Sei managed to gasp out the words, before convulsing in a torrential coughing.

"You're not making any sense. Tell me what's going on," Sachiko demanded.

"Rei-chan!" Yoshino shouted toward the water.

Rei emerged from the water. The frail girl sloshed hip-deep into the murky water and levered her shoulder beneath her onee-sama's arm. Rei face was unnaturally pale.

"Rei! Where's Yumi? Sei's not making any sense. She's saying that something took her away!" Sachiko said.

"In the water. I don't know what they were, but they came out of the water and dragged Yumi down. I can't find her," Rei huffed between gulps of air.

Sachiko and Yoshino exchanged startled looks. Sei spouting nonsense worried them, but Rei repeating it sent chills down their spines.

Troubled, but still resolved, Sachiko pushed her cell phone into Yoshino's hand and began to unbutton her blouse. "Where? Where did Yumi go down?"

Rei stabbed a finger to one side of the fallen bridge.

Sachiko kicked her pants into the mud and tossed her blouse aside in mid-stride as she cut through the lake's surface. The rush of adrenalin cancelled the lake's cold shock. She swam to halfway to the island and treaded on the surface, searching for a glimpse of white or a human form. Seeing nothing through the dark water, she took a deep draught of air before plunging to the bottom.

Shapes half-seen floated in and out of view. A second glance told her that there was only murk. A pallid ripple, on her right, looked like the hem of a dress. She lunged for it, but it turned out to be a mat thin reeds undulating in the sun. Sachiko released her grip on the mudslick weeds and rose for air.

A pair of splashes told her two more girls had joined the search. Sachiko descended again. She kicked frog-like over the pond bed. Hope swelled in her when a white limb loomed into view, but it turned out to be Rei's arm. They surfaced next to each other. Taking even breaths, Sachiko pointed to herself followed by a quick knife of her hand toward the bridge.

"Be careful of the wood," Rei warned. Her breath misted lightly.

Sachiko nodded and swam several lengths away for her next dive. Sachiko also separated. She plunged into the cold gloom with a vengeance, grasping at illusions and clawing at phantoms. Each she came up empty-handed, she sucked in draughts of the rawly cold air and dove again. Years of discipline came to her aid as she forced body on, though her limbs and lungs screamed in pain as she surfaced once more.

"Sachiko, can you go on?" Rei paddled toward Sachiko as she recovered for her next dive.

Unable to immediately answer, Sachiko gave a quick jerk of her head.

"Have- have you found anything?" Sachiko asked breathlessly.

Rei shook her head. "Sachiko, you're getting too close to the bridge. It's too dangerous."

"We have to find Yumi," Sachiko stated flatly.

Sachiko backstroked away from Rei, and then impatiently descended. Again nothing. Ignoring Rei's advice, she swam toward the remnants of the bridge for her next dive. Seeing nothing Yumi-like, she investigated a man-sized mound and pulled a plank from the top. Beneath it, a band of material undulated from the end of a stick. Sachiko snatched it. Though it was caked in mud, she recognized it as one of Yumi's pale green ribbons.

She awkwardly levered aside another board, half hopeful and half afraid to uncover Yumi beneath the detritus. Beneath the wood was only more mud and slime. Though, Sachiko desperately wanted to search more, her body needed air.

Sachiko ascended impatiently. A board jutted above her from the mass of the shattered bridge. She twisted to avoid the obstacle a board above her, so she wasn't able to see a log drift into her path. The unexpected blow exploded on the top of her head, leaving her stunned. Her precious breath erupted in a bevy of bubbles.

The water that she had swallowed ate at her lungs like acid. She began kicking and clawing toward the surface until a hand clamped around her wrist. A body swam beneath her and curled an arm around her waist. Her savior kicked upward and they ascended. Sachiko's lungs ached to burst. When she thought that she could take no more, they broke through the surface.

Sachiko erupted into a spasm of hacking as she clung onto a log. A hand rubbed across her back as she fought to regain her breath. Rei and Noriko approached. Sachiko weakly motioned them away, to continue looking for Yumi. Rei waved Noriko away before closing the distance.

"Are you OK, Sachiko?" a boyish voice asked.

Sachiko turned around to her helper, who had relinquished his hold on her waist.

"Yuki?" Sachiko asked dumbly.

"Are you hurt badly?"

Her scalp tingled with pre-pain. She ran her hand through her head. Her fingers came back slick with blood. A fine particle, like snow, drifted onto her open hand. It was ash. The stench of smoke in the air was unmistakable.

"I'm OK," she said. "We have to find her, Yumi. She's down there,"

Sachiko held up the ribbon as proof. It had been soaked with blood.

"You stay here, Sachiko," Rei ordered.

"I'm going, too!" Sachiko protested. She wrapped the ribbon around her wrist.

"You're hurt and bleeding," Yuki protested.

"I have to find her," Sachiko shouted and dissolved into a bout of coughing.

"Yumi wouldn't want you to risk yourself like that," Yuki stated.

As Sachiko groped for an answer, Rei blind-sighted her. "In your condition, we'll just have to look after you as well. If you try to follow, we're going to drag you back up to the surface."

Without waiting for an answer, Rei dove and Yuki followed. Sachiko clung to the log in frustration. It suddenly felt cold. Each breath iced into small clouds. Rei and Yuki surfaced nearby. Rei shook her head, and down they went once again.

Garish lights flashed from the shore followed by cherry red emergency vehicles. Yuki and Rei surfaced next to Sachiko.

"They're here," Yuki pronounced.

"We request your cooperation," a fireman announced through a megaphone. "If you can get out of the water under our own power, do so. Otherwise wait for a rescue diver. If you will not leave, then we will drag you out of the water, and we will waste precious time instead of looking for your friend."

"We have to go," Yuki said.

"You're her brother, Yuki! You can't just abandon her!" Sachiko grabbed Yuki's arm with her ribbon wrapped arm. "We're so close," her voice cracked with emotion.

Like his sister's, Yuki's face clearly registered what he was thinking. His first reaction to Sachiko's outburst was surprise, followed by sheepishness. Then he seemed to remember something that set his entire body with resolve.

"Sachiko-san, it's as the rescuer says," Yuki said. "We'll only get into the way if we stay. If we want to help Yumi, we have to leave it to them.

"Please, for Yumi's sake," He turned before her and bowed at the neck until his face touched the water.

Divers dropped into the water and swam toward them. Sachiko gave Rei a pleading look, but the martial artist did not waver. Nor did Yuki. The divers were close enough so that their breathing apparatuses could be clearly seen. Though every instinct, thought, and memory in Sachiko screamed against it, she acquiesced with a bare nod.

"Can you make it to shore?" Yuki asked.

"I can make it," Sachiko answered bitterly, but when she let go of the log, her limbs betrayed her.

"Hold still," Yuki looped his arm around hers and towed her toward land.

Rei followed in escort. They stopped part way across the lake to exchange a few words with the rubber-suited divers. Rei pointed at the log that they had clung to and explained that Sachiko had found Yumi's ribbon in the ruins. The divers gave a thumbs up and headed for the spot. Yuki resumed towing Sachiko. Fine ash fell through the air.

Enervated, she stared at his thin, white back. Many words welled in her: rants, pleas, and apologies. But they all disappeared into the vast emptiness that had opened in her.


	7. Voices in the Deep

**Fellowship of the Soeurs**

7. Voices in the Deep

Sachiko stumbled from the mist strewn water towards the fire engine's flashing light. Once on land, her leaden legs buckled, sending the tall girl sprawling into the chill muck. Every spent limb palsied. It felt easier to lie in the pliable earth rather than rise.

Despite the fall, she maintained her grip on the salvaged ribbon. The image of Yumi flashed into her mind. The slight girl's pallid face and body were still, save for her half-bound hair billowing with the unseen current. Sachiko bit back the tears in her eyes until the taste of iron began spreading in her mouth.

The young woman heaved herself into a sitting position. She awkwardly avoided using her right arm, to keep the cloth from getting muddier. Her shaking fingers flicked and scraped at the slime.

"Sachiko, are you hurt?" Rei asked.

Sachiko continued to worry at the grimy cloth.

"Sachiko?" Rei demanded. "Sachiko, answer me."

The martial artist tried to drag up Sachiko by her limp shoulder. Sachiko wrenched away, cradling the silk band to her half-bared chest.

"Leave me alone!" Sachiko snapped.

"Get up, Sachiko. Do you think that Yumi wants to see her Onee-sama wallowing in the filth like that?"

Sachiko glared through the chaotic curtain of her hair. Rei returned her stare.

"Yumi needs you. Your sister needs you, now! This is no time for self pity," Rei pressed.

"What do you know?" Sachiko shouted. She rose to face her accuser, sweeping her tangled tresses aside. "How do you know how I feel?"

"I know that you're hurting, but it's too early to give up."

"I haven't given-," Sachiko swallowed the words as Yumi's drowned face flashed before her eyes again. "Rei, what if she really is gone?"

"We don't know that, yet. We can't give up hope," Rei insisted.

"Wh-what if she's-"

The girl's voice broke on the words. Sachiko sank into her friend's arms as the tears fell. She called for Yumi until her voice became hoarse and was reduced to a whisper. But she continued to call, hoping against reason and fear that her words might be heard.

* * *

The last bubbles of Yumi's breath rose to the now distant light. The cold had robbed her limbs of all sense. Even pain had abandoned her, leaving only her leaden inertia to gauge her continuing descent.

Yumi's blue lips mouthed the word that had remained on her lips. _Onee-sama._

_You want to be with her, don't you? _someone asked.

Yumi did not recognize the voice. It belonged to a woman and was gentle.

_Yes_, Yumi answered drowsily in her thoughts.

_Then you must live_, the voice commanded.

_Live? How?_

_Listen._

Distantly, Yumi heard the strident voice of her Onee-san. The syllables were almost clear. They could have been calling her name. The voice was thick was tears, then it suddenly cracked into the squall of a child.

_Onee-sama is crying_, Yumi lamented.

_Reach for her, _the voice encouraged_. _

Yumi struggled to move her arm. Every thought was blanketed with lead. She tried to open her eyes, but the darkness remained. She wasn't sure if her arm moved, but the girl continued to struggle.

_Don't give up, _the voice pleaded._ Reach for her with all you have and you will reach her._

Yumi struggled against the seduction of sleep, which promised peace. All she had to do was to let go of her broken body and the cold would carry the pain.

_Don't give up! She needs you! She is calling for you! _the voice exhorted.

Yumi heard her name being called again. Sachiko's voice was raw with grief. Her Onee-sama was suffering.

_Think of her and only of her!_

Yumi reached forth, forsaking the promise of peace, and embraced her demented heartbeat. Every part of her body shrieked madly as the last of its oxygen was exhausted. Through the gibbering din of her senses, see saw an outstretched hand. With one last effort, Yumi lashed out for that hand.

_Onee-sama! _Yumi exalted.

Yumi's hand grasped onto something solid, so she pulled. She felt herself beginning to rise. Her sight flooded crimson as she strained. Through the redness, the girl glimpsed an angelic face cast in glass, pitying her with the wondrous eyes of the Madonna. The eyes and face belonged to the undine that Sei had called Shiori.

The shock jarred Yumi's will, which had kept her struggling on the knife's edge of her limits. The redness overtook her, and Yumi blacked out.

* * *

A drum reverberated through the girl's slight figure. Its hypnotic repetition resounded like a heartbeat. Her eyes flickered open to stare muzzily into a soft, silvery light.

Fukuzawa Yumi awoke in an awkward position. Her legs were folded under her, while her side leaned against an irregularly carved stone. Her right arm was raised and gripped the outstretched stone hand of a statue.

She coughed reflexively, remembering the waters that invaded her lungs. However, her chest was clear. The night air was crisply chill and resplendent with the scent of pine needles. Yumi gave herself a pinch and found the pain to be as real as the stone beneath her.

She pulled onto the statue's hand to rise. The statue faced two other robed figures. Each carving seemed to be in prayer or meditation. Around the dais, where the statues stood, was a pool of placid water. The water itself seemed to be the source of the silver light, since the night sky was moonless.

Before her sat a squat, robed figure. Its hands monotonously tapped a pair of drums. Though it's face was hooded, Yumi could feel its stare.

"Who are you?" the girl called out as she backed away.

The girl encountered one statue with her back. She looked around, but saw only the night in the distance.

"I am but your most faithful servant," the drummer answered with the reedy voice of an old woman.

"Servant?" Yumi asked. "What do you want with me?"

"For your return."

"Return? I don't understand," Yumi pleaded.

The drummer answered only with her drums. Behind the squat figure, a tall woman rose from the glowing water. The newcomer wore a simple dress of white. Her hair and dress was reminiscent of an undine, but she was of pure white flesh instead of water. Barely contained energy hummed from her.

Yumi turned to run, but another one rose to block her way. Each direction she turned, another one emerged. There was nowhere to run.

Yumi's ears were peeled and heart hammered at double-time as she expected them to attack. Instead, the dancers continued to circle her. At the behest of the drums, they began the undines' dance anew.

This time, dancers' faces and motions immediately betrayed pain with every leap, landing, and step. They began to fall behind the driving drums' demands. One of them stumbled on a landing and spilled into the water. Yumi waited for the dancer to rise or one of her sisters to help, but they simply expanded their circle to the edge of the pool and continued their choreography.

Though Yumi was still afraid, she still darted forward. She winced as her bare feet splashed through the icy water. After a moment of trepidation, Yumi lifted the fallen dancer.

The fallen dancer was stunningly beautiful, from her large eyes to her flowing hair and well proportioned limbs. She gasped and writhed in pain. Her body felt like an open oven despite the chill air. Sweat appeared on the dancer's brow and open collar only to evaporate into water vapor. Yumi tried to soothe her with the soaked sleeve of her dress, then offer her some of the water, but neither helped.

"Stop it!" Yumi pleaded to the drummer. "You're hurting her."

"No, you are the one hurting her," the drummer answered without breaking the rhythm. "You can set her free. You can free all of us from this accursed ritual."

"How?" Yumi yelled. "How do I free you?

"Seek us out."

"Aren't you right here?" Yumi demanded.

"No, this is a sending as was the sending that you first saw. Find us at the ruins of the Pavin Sentinel, which watches over the birthing place of the Rose River," the drummer answered. "Will you do it?"

The drumming slowed and the dancers slowed to a simple step until they all stood before the kneeling girl. Far from being menacing, their youthful faces implored her.

"I'll do it!" Yumi answered.

"Swear it!" the drummer demanded.

"By the Holy Mother, I'll do it!"

A weary smile creased the angelic face of the girl that Sei had called Shiori.

_Thank you_, Shiori mouthed as she caressed Yumi's face with a fevered palm. Shiori disappeared between Yumi's blinks, leaving only an impression of heat.

As the tempo died so did the light in the pool. The dancers bowed one by one, before fading as well. The drummer was the last to disappear.

The reedy voice left a piece of parting advice. "Abide within the boundaries of the water until you gain your night eyes."

Yumi was left in the night. The adrenalin rush faded, leaving Yumi shivering and soaked in the pool. The simple linen shift that she wore did nothing to stop the breeze. The girl was tempted to leave the pool and seek shelter among the trees, but she followed the drummer's advice.

At first, it seemed to be a trick of the eye, but after the second and third time, Yumi was certain that she saw a black figure silently drift through the tall grass. The girl slowly back toward the statues, murmuring prayers to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, threw in several saints for good measure. Her hands searched behind her for the reassuring feeling of stone, but met a shaft of wood.

The wood fell, sending a clatter across the open space. Yumi groped for the fallen object until her hand encountered the smooth shaft. As she touched it, a cold light poured from the metal caps of the staff. Yumi looked up and saw that the shapes were not her imagination. The black forms looked like disembodied shadows. Murky gray spots occupied the space where their eyes should have been, and they fixed their hollow eyes on the girl as they gathered around at the water's edge.


	8. The Roses of Aldis

Fellowship of the Soeurs

A/N: Just to be clear, the Lillian/fantasy counterparts are

Mizuno Youko/ Mizuko

Torii Eriko/ Toriko

Ogasawara Sachiko/ Sagawara

Rei/ Reiji

Satou Sei/ Seito

**8. The Roses of Aldis**

The Lady Moon had taken her sabbatical, leaving the stars to shine alone. The silver river cut brightly across the black sky, flanked by the constellations in their glittering finery.

Seven women watched the sky, surrounded by the darkness. The six younger members sat on granite benches around an elliptical slab of stone. They ranged from first blush of womanhood to twenty-odd years. The six huddled in fur-lined cloaks against the bone-shaking chill, while comparing their observations against the faded parchment star charts and the ancient maps etched on the table. Debate bubbled fitfully between the students. Occasionally, they turned to the seventh who sat at the head of the table.

The regal bearing of Mizuko the Red immediately set her apart from her apprentices, though her robe and cloak were as simple as theirs. Her only ornament was a small broach laid with crimson gems patterned as a thorned blossom, which was the symbol of her office as the head sorceress in the service of Aldis. Her face was as fair as the frosted breath that issued from her lips and contrasted sharply with the midnight of her neatly kept hair. Mizuko's beauty would have seemed forbidding and severe, if it had not been softened by the warmth of her lively eyes.

"And so what do you think, Mistress?" an apprentice concluded after a long explanation.

"So you believe that the Swan hovering over the sheaf of oats will signify a bad harvest?" the Red Rose summarized neatly.

"I wanted to know if it's a valid interpretation," the girl hedged.

"It's a topic that may warrant further consideration. How would you check to see if your reading has merit? Take your time to think it through."

The young girl hesitated, but warmed to her subject as she saw her elder keep interest. "To check to see if a harvest was bad or not, I would need to learn the amount of grain harvested during other years, then reference when the last time the Swan was in a dominate house over the Oat."

"And where would you go to find this lore?"

"I would go to the Astrologer's Tower for the star charts, then to the College's Archives for harvest records," the girl said confidently.

"That sounds like a sensible course of action," Mizuko gave her an encouraging smile.

"I'll do that, Mistress," the girl turned to her parchment to scribble notes by a mote of witch light. Though she lowered her head, her blush was still visible.

The wizardress turned back to the stars, but was soon interrupted by three even knocks that seemed to resound from the air itself.

"Who is it?" Mizuko called.

"Toriko of the Gold, and I bring relief," came the languid quip.

"Be welcome," the Red Rose rose to admit guest.

The outline of a door appeared and opened, spilling chill witch light from a stairwell. A woman warrior clad in bright chainmail stepped into the night. A yellow rose nestled in green brambles on the surcoat. Toriko was as tall as Mizuko. Despite her armor and a sheathed gladius at her side, she walked with a leisurely mien.

"The kitchen sends its sympathy," Toriko announced.

The door disappeared as soon as it closed. She swept past her friend and laid the basket on the stone table, which elicited muffled gasps from the apprentices. Mizuko cleared her throat and pointed to her vacated seat. The Yellow Rose shifted the basket.

"Help yourselves," Toriko offered.

When no one moved, Mizuko pulled the cloth off the basket. Inside was a stoneware jar filled with steaming, spiced cider and drinking bowls. A fresh loaf of bread sat beside it. Mizuko measured a draught into a bowl and passed it to an apprentice, who nearly dropped it. The young student nearly drank from it, before remembering her manners and passed it along.

"Please, allow me," the apprentice said before taking over the pouring.

Mizuko nodded her thanks.

"I want you to refresh yourselves for a bit and then turn in for the night," the Red Rose said. "I think that the heavens have decided to keep their best secrets to themselves tonight."

Her words were met with sighs of relief. After snacking, the gaggle had bowed deeply to their teacher and to the Gilden Rose. The oldest apprentice found the door and the chatter disappeared behind the iron bound oak, leaving the top of the tower in the still of the night.

"Were we ever so young?" Toriko stretched as she took over a stone seat.

"Once upon a time," her friend answered. "It's hard to believe that they will shroud themselves in the Red, soon."

"Yet, Aldis needs them badly," Toriko answered.

"Aye. But I fear for them if the situation is it serious enough for you to wear armor in the heartland," Mizuko wrinkled her nose at the Gilden Rose's silvery mail.

"Believe me, I wouldn't be clanking around in this if it wasn't necessary. Have you heard of the Contrarians?"

Mizuko furrowed her brows in concentration. "Isn't that an old cult? Seito would know more about that. They had some odd beliefs, didn't they?"

"That's putting it mildly. In short, they believe that there is a mirror world where the opposite happens from this world. So after death, the dead come to life in the mirror world, and assume their reversed role. The beggared become rich. The sinner is blessed as a saint. You can see where this is leading."

Mizuko grimaced. "In these desperate times, some people will turn to anything for comfort. How many of them do you think there are?"

"Enough to put my armor on," the knight answered between puffs on her drink.

"Is there evidence of any magical Corruption?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you about," Toriko answered.

"To investigate, we'll need a few experienced teams. Maybe we can rotate some teams from the North-East border. And where is she when I need her?"

There was no need for Toriko to ask who Mizuko was referring to. She was obviously referring to her raven-haired assistant. Their eyes turned south and west, where their petite soeurs had last reported to them.

"At least, Sir Reiji is with her," Toriko said.

"Seito the White is also with them," Mizuko answered.

"That could be cause for concern."

Mizuko gave a weary smile in reply. "Joking aside, there are few that I would trust more with our dear sisters than Se. Not that you need to tell her that-"

Her banter was cut off in mid sentence by a flash on the horizon. A bead of gray light welled, and then erupted in a needle into the darkness of space. The entire sky burned dirty silver. Mizuko slashed at the air with her hand, cutting off the mystical darkness that surrounded the tower. The remainder of the structure and the stone crenellations appeared, as did the city lights below, but the unnatural gray light stayed.

Below, the sleeping city of Aldis awoke. Red hearth lights spilled into the streets from open windows and porches as the news spread.

"I'll assemble the Order of the Rose," Toriko said.

"Yes, order must be kept. I will call the Council," Mizuko answered. Beneath her breath, she lamented one more time. "Where could you be at a time like this?"

Mizuko's answer laid about a hundred leagues and at least several hundred feet off in the air. In the lee of a jagged mountain, the Red Rose Bud's horse trod up the incline of a snow slickened ridge. The long-haired sorceress rode with one boot in the mountain-side stirrup and the other foot free. That way, if her mare panicked and went over the brink, she would have a chance to jump off. She shivered at the very thought of the black abyss yawning by her side.

* * *

Sagawara wished that she could be blinkered like her mount. The image of herself wearing the clumsy shields on either side of her head irked her, though her grand soeur Mizuko would probably find it funny. Sagawara felt a stab of homesickness for her grand sour's smiling face.

On such a cold winter's night, her grand soeur would greet her from the steaming bath with hot, mulled wine. She would sit on a cushion in front of the fire, while Mizuko ran a soft brush through her tresses with long, even strokes. She pushed the dreams of warmth away with a sigh that joined with the hollow, moaning wind.

"Such a long sigh, perhaps it would be better for you to fill your breath with song instead," her fellow traveler commented from behind her.

Without further ado, the scholar-priestess began humming a foreign tune. It was simple, repetitive, and strangely calming.

"Were did you learn that song from? Is it Jarzoni?" Sagawara asked, referring to the Theocracy that bordered Aldis.

"Actually, I learned it from a dream."

Sagawara was tempted to check to see if the priestess was serious, but dared not to turn around. Not that it was necessary; the sorceress could easily imagine the mocking grin etched on Seito's face.

"So how did you learn it in your dream?" Sagawara asked with forced evenness.

"Someone taught it to me, actually she might have been me. At the very least, she looked a lot like me."

"I should have known better than to ask."

Sagawara had more to add, but saw that Reiji had pulled her tall warhorse to a stop. The warrior had done so every hour. Sagawara stopped behind her. The ridge was too narrow for two riders.

Reiji pulled out a dirk, which was more spike than blade, and stabbed the mountain face. The knight pulled down her hood to listen to the hilt.

"Grab onto your reins!" the knight managed to yell as the first tremor hit.

Sagawara struggled to hold onto her reigns as her mare bucked, throwing back the hood of the sorceress's cloak. For a moment, she cursed her staff, which prevented her from using both hands. Her brow burst into a cold sweat as she caught a glimpse of the endless expanse of the moonless sky. The horse's shrill neigh disappeared into the emptiness. The other mounts joined in the hollow cacophony.

Above, a spear of gray light shot from the mountain into the sky, followed by another. The shafts followed one, another, until it became a coherent stream of light. Sagawara's breath caught in her throat. The gray light had been the sign that she'd been looking for. Sagawara glanced at her wrist. Though it was difficult to see by the starlight, a red silk ribbon was tied around it.

She redoubled her grip on the leather reins. Despite the jolting ground and the mysterious light, the sorceress managed to gain control of the mare. A panicked cry told her that not all had been so fortunate. She caught an awful glimpse of a horse plunging into the blackness. Its legs kicked futilely as its screams faded down its fall.

"No!" one of the rear-guards shouted.

"Is everyone OK?" Reiji demanded as the tremors momentarily subsided. "Itsue? Tanuma?"

"Merciful Mother! The packhorse got away from me!" Itsue cried.

"Still here!" the squiress Tanuma said.

"My ass and I are whole," Seito said as she clung to the neck of her jackass. "Though my prayers follow our faithful companion."

"Present," Sagawara answered through puffs of air.

"Good, everyone's still safe. We need to ride and ride fast. Another quake may come, and we are close to our goal," Reiji proclaimed. "Let's go. All for the Rose!"

Reiji snapped the reins of her mount and sped up the winding path. Sagawara gathered herself and followed suit. The sorceress kept her eyes ahead as her mare galloped at a ground eating pace

The next groundshake struck moments later. The riders continued up the mountain, scarcely slackening their pace as the ground shuddered and rumbled, swallowing the pounding hooves. As they rode past a particularly narrow part of the pass, the ancient stone groaned in protest. It held just long enough for the rearguard to pass, before it cracked and shattered into the chasm.

"The way back is gone," Itsue warned.

"Then keep going forward!" Reiji roared back with uncharacteristic heat.

Sagawara's mare was nearly shaken off the pass twice, but managed to regain her footing. The mage's heart threatened to break free from her chest, but she pressed on, drawn on by the light.

The pass led into a breach in the side of the mountain. Beyond lay a plateau pressed into the mountain's core, enclosed by walls of stone. A forest of stunted pines surrounded the shaft of metallic light that poured from the ground in a high pitched rush. The barrier pulsed and rang through the sorceress's mind.

"What will you say if you see her?" Seito suddenly asked.

"What are you going on about, now?" the wizardress challenged as she mopped the cold sweat from her brow.

"We might be close," Seito said.

"It'll come to me when the time comes," Sagawara answered. "But we need to find her, first."

Her heart pounded, but, now, in anticipation instead of vertigo. She raised her staff from the cup at the side of her saddle. The raven-haired sorceress searched her memory back to the musty monastery library that they had searched moons ago, while following the cold trail of her Queen. She recalled her trembling hands, when she had found a red silk ribbon that had been used as a bookmark between the illuminated pictures of an old tome.

Sagawara glanced at her wrist again. She recalled a child-like face, honest and full of cheer, as well as the runes painstakingly scribed onto those faded page. The eldritch words rolled off her tongue in a hard cadence, matching the barrier's pulsing rhythm. Her mount whinnied in protest as energy gathered from the ground into Sagawara, roiling into a newborn storm of mystic power.

The wizardress raised her staff of ash wood, which hummed in resonance with the waves of mana that rushed into the night sky. When her staff glimmered with the same steel light, she raised the chant until it rang throughout the enclosure. A serpent of force lashed from the ash shaft, diving into the wall. The serpent swam through the waves of energy, bobbing and weaving, then circling on its tail. The closed circuit cut a hole in the wall of force.

Sir Reiji fastened her oaken shield on her arm and drew her broadsword. Seito sang a short chant to summon a globe of light to her side. Their faces reflected the same resolution that the raven-haired sorceress felt in her heart. Side by side, they rode through the opening. Itsue and Tanuma of the Gold followed. The wizardress broke off the spell to follow her companions through the shrinking portal.

* * *

By the pale light of her staff, Yumi saw a sack hanging a statue's hand. She had just climbed onto the robed figure's lap, when she saw a faint ripple in the distance. A bluish light appeared, illuminating several bulky shapes. As they approached, she could make out riders on horseback.

"What do you think that light is?"

Yumi felt a thrill run up her spine. That voice sounded just like Rei.

"I'm not sure, but keep your guard up."

At the sound of that voice, Yumi could no longer contain herself. "O-onee-sama!" she shouted.

She was not the only one to take note of the newcomers as the shadows peeled away from the fountain and glided toward the unsuspecting riders.


End file.
